Harry Delivers a Letter
by Rose of the West
Summary: Harry Potter meets with the parents of a new Hogwarts prospect. Complete! Should we follow the adventures of this student? Review and let me know!
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Delivers a Letter**

Harry rolled over and turned off his alarm. He took a deep breath and released it loudly and at great length. Ginny looked up mischievously. "Well, today's the day. Are you excited? You haven't seen him in years...think of all you have to discuss..."

"You've got to be kidding. There's not a good day of my life that included him. I'd almost rather see Draco Malfoy today."

"Oh, come now. It will be fine."

"I'm not looking forward to it. I'm not expecting a positive response. I still can't believe those two produced a wizarding child."

"Well, give it your best. You might have done better with this if you'd done more than send a random postcard at Christmas."

"I never had the feeling that they wanted to keep in touch."

"Well, obviously, you had _something_ in common. She'll be just Lily's age. Maybe they'll be sorted into the same house."

"Hmph"

"Just think, if this goes well, you could start a new career."

"All right, now you're mocking me." He got up and put on his most ordinary muggle clothes. Brown trousers, green button down shirt. "How do I look?"

Ginny's eyes melted. "Like a dream. Hurry home."

Harry apparated to #11. "Harry Potter, postman. So much for the new career Ginny has mapped out for me. Well, here goes."

He knocked on the door. A sweet looking lady answered the door. There was a question in her soft brown eyes. "Yes?"

"Elizabeth?" She nodded. "My name is Harry Potter. I wonder if I could come in and speak with you and your husband about Patsy."

"You're--? Oh, I've heard about you. You want to talk about Patsy? Let me go get him." The waves of her brown hair bounced as she went up the stairs.

His voice preceded him down the stairs. "I can't say I'm terribly surprised. I knew he'd be here at some point or other...hello, Harry."

"Hello, Dudley."

_A/N: I've always wondered how Dudley would react if one of his children turned out to be a wizard or witch. This is my first go at story writing since college, so I hope you'll review and let me know if I'm on the right track!_


	2. Convincing the Family

_Disclaimer: I'm sure most who read this know that Harry Potter, Ginny and their children, plus Petunia and Dudley and the world in which they all live were created by JKR. Dudley's wife and kids are my own. I'm sure I have adjusted the relationships. I tried to keep them in line with where we last saw those characters in DH, adding my touch for the reflection and growth that time brings._

Harry was wondering for the millionth time why they couldn't pick someone else to explain to his intelligence-challenged cousin that his daughter belonged in the wizarding community. Aunt Petunia had crossed Privet Drive from #4, to add her opinion, and it was all Harry could do not to work a wandless _silencio_ on both of them. Remembering his own childhood at the hands of this family, he knew he had to try, though.

Suddenly he realized that this is why the Hogwarts board of directors sent him. He was the one who would know why it was so important for this little girl to be allowed to become what she was. He also realized that he knew what to say.

"If you think I'm going to let my little girl become a freak like you..." Dudley was saying, and "I thought you were well away from this family," from Petunia.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and forced his tone to be calm. "I think there was a day when you were grateful for my being a 'freak,' as you put it, Dudley. I didn't come to discuss how horrible the past was. I'm here to offer the best education for your daughter."

Petunia Alice Dursley sat at the kitchen table with her brother, Vernon, and her sister, Betsy, listening to the row in the living room. They were both rather big and tall and blond, like Daddy, though not so chubby, while Patsy was more brunette, like Mummy, and slim.

Patsy knew she was different from the kids in school. She remembered the time when she was eight and Betsy was six. Betsy climbed to the top of the jungle gym but then lost her footing and fell. With her heart in her throat, Patsy ran underneath Betsy and put her arms out to catch her. Patsy expected to be knocked completely over under a sister almost as big as she was. Both girls were surprised when Betsy started to float down like a leaf, landing gently on her own feet. They tacitly decided never to discuss it, but both knew and remembered.

Granny Tuney always told Patsy that although they had the same first name, Patsy looked a lot like Granny's sister, Lily. Patsy loved to look at the books of when Granny was a little girl, playing with the little girl who in black and white photos did look like herself. Granny would tell her about her little sister and how she was lured away to school where she "went bad," which resulted in her getting killed. Granny herself had to raise Aunt Lily's baby, who went just as "bad" as Aunt Lily, although he didn't get killed. Something about the story never quite matched the jolly post cards Patsy saw at Christmas every year from Cousin Harry and his family. She guessed some day she would figure the whole thing out.

Then suddenly Granny didn't seem to like Patsy so very much any more. It started around the time weird things started happening around Patsy and finally ended by Granny locking Patsy into a closet under Granny's stairs. Patsy was so horribly frightened at first but suddenly the door unlocked and opened and she walked out. Granny was even madder then and Patsy never quite figured out why. If Granny didn't want Patsy to come out, she shouldn't have unlocked the door.

"I don't understand" Mummy was saying. "We always knew that Patsy is a bit, well, _odd_, but I can't send my baby away. It's not like she's a bad girl. Surely, she will just grow out of it."

"I think you misunderstand. This isn't a detention center for wayward children, regardless of what Dudley's family told you about me. It's one of the best schools of it's kind in the world. Soon after she arrives, she will be placed in a house, where she will have a sort of family within the school. Between Ginny's and my family and connections, we know people in every house and regardless to which house she goes, she won't be with total strangers."

Elizabeth thought for a minute. "How does she get placed?"

Harry answered, "We have a sort of evaluation process that looks at her natural inclinations and native abilities and she's sorted into the house that best matches her in those ways."

"So she's tested?"

"Er, yes, a sort of a test. Also, while at school, the students are encouraged to write home frequently, plus there are several vacations in a year."

Elizabeth had one final question, "Can I visit her at the school?"

Harry smiled. "Yes, there are parents weekends and things. You may find the place a bit odd, at first, but you will see how wonderful it is for your daughter.

"World class, eh? I don't care to stand for the expense of this," put in Dudley.

Harry knew he could win over Dudley. "As her cousins, Ginny and I would be delighted to cover the cost of her tuition and other expenses." Between the contents of the Potter and Black vaults at Gringotts, the needs of one girl wouldn't be a problem.

Aunt Petunia was the toughest nut to crack. "I've told you over and over that she's as crazy as my sister. Looks like her too. Why you had to name that child after me I'll never know. Do you know that I locked her in Harry's old bedroom and she unlocked the door herself _with magic_ and came out? It breaks my heart to think of this happening to me yet again. My poor Lily."

Patsy gasped. She never realized that it had happened that way. It was starting to make sense. Wait, that closet used to be someone's _bedroom_? Suddenly she heard a sob from Granny.

Cousin Harry was speaking more softly and yet even more seriously. "Aunt Petunia, I happen to know that when my own mum went to Hogwarts, you tried to get in, yourself. I know that you received a kind letter from Albus Dumbledore explaining why you couldn't come. Do you really want your granddaughter to miss her chance? "

Petunia crumpled, just a bit. "I just didn't want to be left ou—hey, how did you find out about that?" Her back stiffened up and her eyes narrowed.

"Let's just say that I had an in-depth discussion with Severus Snape." More gently: "He also let me know that you loved my mum. I wish I could have had more than one year with her. What happened was awful but a lot of good things happened because of it. Patsy will be well cared for." Petunia sputtered into quietness, but her eyes were still narrowed.

Harry looked to Dudley and Elizabeth. "I wonder if I could meet young Petunia? I have a letter for her. She should be given a say in this." Patsy's parents nodded, if a bit reluctantly.

A few minutes later he looked into the face of an eleven year old girl with brown eyes and hair like her mother, but the same expression on her face that he had seen in pictures of his own mother.

When she was called in from the kitchen, Petunia Dursley looked into the kind face of Cousin Harry for the first time. His eyes matched her own except they were green, and he had a funny scar on his forehead. He rubbed it absently and then ruffled his already messy hair and said, "Well, Patsy, how would you like to learn how to use your special abilities?"

Patsy was a bit nervous, but the eyes that were like a different color mirror of her own were kind. "I don't have any special abilities."

Cousin Harry smiled. "I don't think I have, either, but let's see if you can do this." He took a blossom from her mother's coffee-table arrangement and placed it on her hand, closing her fingers over it. "Ok now, open your hand." As Patsy's fingers uncurled, the flower was opening and shutting within her hand. A lovely scent filled the room. Her face suddenly shone with delight.

Petunia gasped and sagged completely. "I suppose you got that from Severus, too? I know it wasn't like that, but once he introduced himself things were completely different and it always seemed like Severus took my Lily away...and then she married that Potter and the next thing I knew she was dead and you were on my doorstep...you don't know how I worried.."

She looked at Harry appraisingly. "You've turned out, though, and that dangerous man who killed my sister is really gone?" Harry nodded. After a moment she straightened up and looked at Dudley. "Maybe she could try it, just to see. She doesn't really fit into our world."

Dudley couldn't stop thinking of a twilight night when all good things were suddenly sucked out of his world for just a few moments. "It could be useful, you know, having someone in the family who knows how to deal with those horrible things...de, de..."

"Dementors. They aren't around much any more, but it might be helpful to have someone around who knows what to do, just in case." Harry decided to be agreeable.

Apparating from Privet Drive to Grimmauld Place was almost a joy, made perfect by the smiling faces that greeted him around the open doorway.

"Hello! How did it go?"

"Lily, how would you like to show a muggle-raised cousin the ropes?"

"Hurrrah! We get another cousin! And this time it's a girl!" Lily always felt that there were entirely too many boys in her life.

Harry gave Ginny more of the details as they finished up dinner preparations together. "They weren't eager for this, but they didn't mind it as much as I feared. I hope you don't mind. I told them you and Lily would be around on Thursday to take Patsy shopping for her clothes and geer. I'm hoping that they'll let us take her to the end of summer dinner at the Burrow next week and then to stay overnight here so that we can take her to the station."

Ginny smiled. "Sounds wonderful. What kind of child is she?"

Harry thought for a minute. "On first glance, she's a charming if shy child. She definitely got her easy manner from her mother. There might be a streak of Aunt Petunia in there, though."

"Was it awful?"

"Well, there was a bit of a row, but they've softened a bit. Uncle Vernon's death, maybe. Once young Petunia came into the room, though, there was no question. I really think she somehow won them over."

"You're just being fishing for compliments. You win me over, every time."

Harry kissed her on both cheeks and Ginny hollered at the upstairs washroom, from which emanated shrieks and laughter. "All right, you lot! Come get your dinner!"

_A/N: Well, I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. **Edward loves Bella** and **Monica8471 **must have written before the "ink" was dry! Thank you to **Phnx**, too! It inspired me to rework what I thought was my complete three chapter story into something a little longer. I had planned on finishing this as the Hogwarts Express leaves London, but maybe I could get our young cousin through sorting. In reworking this chapter a bit, I find that other ideas present themselves, which I may pursue. If so, I'll have to rework the title. ;)_

_Do we know enough about Patsy to "sort" her? I can see one house based upon what we know of her father and a different one based upon what little bit we've seen of her. I confess I'm on a fence._


	3. School Shopping

Patsy didn't know what to wear on a magical shopping trip in London. She finally decided on jeans, a pink button down shirt, and loafers. Cousin Ginny Potter and her daughter were supposed to arrive at 9am, and Patsy didn't want to be late, so she was sitting on the living room couch when the fireplace started behaving oddly. After looking as though it were in the process of being sick, the fireplace went back into its normal shape and two people were standing in the room.

"Patsy?" She nodded. "Hi, I'm Cousin Ginny and this is Cousin Lily. Is your mum around?"

Elizabeth came running in from the kitchen to see the newcomers. She stared at the quantity of ash on the floor and absently shook hands with Ginny while the two girls shook hands with each other.

"Elizabeth, right? I'm Ginny Potter. I wanted to reassure you, as a mother, that Patsy will be perfectly safe with us today. I also wanted to ask if it would be okay if she stayed over at our house on the 31st, so as to make it easier to catch the train? My parents throw a big party the night before for all the grandchildren and we thought it would be good chance for her to get to know some of the other kids. I have five brothers and between all of us there are going on twenty grandchildren.

Elizabeth sat on the davenport and stared at the ash on the floor. "It's just all so unexpected."

Ginny sat, too, and looked her in the eye. "Elizabeth. Things will be fine. You can just tell your friends that she's gone to school with some cousins. You will get letters from her every week, at least, and can send letters to her, too. It shouldn't be that different than sending your son to school. As a mom, I know it's hard, but we want what's best for them, don't we?"

Elizabeth started to smile. "Yes, that's true."

Ginny smiled back. "Let's get together for a cup of tea next week after the dust settles from sending them off. I'd like to have a real chat with you."

"That would be nice."

Ginny stood, "OK, Lily, have you got your floo powder? Right, then? Patsy, we're going to hold your hands. Ready? DIAGON ALLEY."

Patsy barely saw them throwing green powder into the fireplace before feeling herself get yanked, and then thrown out of another fireplace into a room that looked like a pub.

Cousin Ginny walked over to a wall and tapped on one of the bricks. The whole wall seemed to be spinning bricks, and then there was an archway through which Patsy could see a street with shops.

"Oi, Mom! Is that the cousin?"

"Don't throw yourself at me James. Yes, this is Patsy."

"Hi, Patsy."

Patsy looked up at her handsome cousin and barely had a chance to say "hi," before James had changed the subject. "Mom, can I have five galleons? Uncle George and Ron have--"

"No more Wizard Weezes for you, today, James, and that's an order! I want you to get your robes and books settled and I will be checking everything when we get home tonight. And I'm telling you again, James, if I don't see an improvement in your grades, I'm cutting your allowance!"

"Oh, mom!"

"No oh, nothings! I have a great deal to do here, today to get these girls settled and you are not to cause trouble! Where's your brother?"

"Albus is off with Rose and one of their other friends. Mr. Smarty Pants couldn't be bothered with me. Oh! I see one of the boys from my house. Can I go, mom?"

"Yes, but don't forget, we're meeting at the ice cream parlor!"

He went off with his friend, and Ginny looked after him, sighing. Turning to the girls she said, "OK! First stop, Ollivanders!"

They walked into a store that sold wands. There were hundreds of their boxes, in windows, on counters and, by the looks of it, stacked onto shelves in a back room.

"Oh! Mrs. Potter! Is this young Lily already?"

"Yes, Mr. Ollivander, and our Cousin Patsy."

"Ah, good morning, Miss Patsy. Where do you come from?"

"Little Winging," she could barely get it out.

"Our last customer from Little Winging was none other than Harry Potter, himself. Your cousin?" She nodded.

He brought out two wands. "Let's try this one for Lily and this one for Patsy. Hold it like this, and move your wrist like this...ahh, the ash and unicorn hair is perfect for Lily, but that doesn't seem quite right for Patsy, there. Let's try this one."

As soon as she picked it up, the wand seemed to come to life in her hand. She was so startled that she would have dropped it except that it seemed to want to stay in her hand. She waved it like Lily waved hers and bright pink sparks flew out the end.

"That's the one. I should have known holly, like Harry. Unicorn hair, like Lily."

"You're entirely too good at this Mr. Ollivander."

"It's my job to have an understanding of these things, Mrs. Potter." He placed the wands back in their boxes and those into shopping bags which he gave to the girls. "Take good care of these. They are some of the last ones my father ever made."

"We will," the girls promised.

They stood outside, waiting while Ginny settled the bill.

"Oh! There's Albus! Hey, Albus!" Lily called.

He walked over. "Hi, Lily. Are you Patsy? This is Cousin Rose."

Cousin Rose put out her hand, "Pleased to meet you."

She had a friendly face that Lily took to at once. "Pleased to meet you, too."

Lily asked, "Where are you off to, next?"

Albus looked at the list his mother gave him. "Madam Malkins. She wants me fitted for dress robes this year." He rolled his eyes. "Coming, Rose?" They wandered down the street.

Ginny came out of the store. "That man is an outrageous flirt. Okay, lets go get clothes for you two."

They saw Albus and Rose at Madam Malkins. "Oh, good. I can make sure they get this right for all of you, now." A clerk approached. "Ok, these two girls need robes for Hogwarts. They need ones for regular classes, for herbology classes, and some for broomstick riding class." The rest of that store was a flurry of trying robes on and off.

After getting their robes, they went to the school book store, the stationery store, a store that had owls ("we'll take yours to our house until you go, Dear") and a store for broomsticks. By the time they were done she was tired and her arms were sore from carrying her various bundles. She also couldn't wait to get home to look at all of her stuff.

The family came together for a lunch and ice cream at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. When they got there, Albus, Rose, and James were already there. They were soon joined by Rose's brother Hugo and their mom and dad, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, and Cousin Harry. Cousin Harry excited a lot of interest in the crowd, some of whom just looked at him from the counter or their tables, and others of whom came up to speak to him.

It was late afternoon when Ginny and Lily brought Patsy back to her own living room. Already she had so many impressions about the wizarding world that she couldn't wait until she was on the train. Cousin Ginny told her how to pack her things, leaving one of her classroom robes in her rucksack to change into on the train. With a pop and a cloud of green dust, the Potters were gone.

She found her mom in the kitchen, making dinner but otherwise not interested in talking, so she went back to the living room and cleared up the ashes on the floor.

One of the books she got was called _Hogwarts: A History_. She had decided to start reading that as soon as she got home. Looking through the table of contents, she found two chapters that she decided to read right off: "Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived" and "How Harry Potter ended the Battle at Hogwarts."

She read both of those chapters right off, and had to read back a bit to understand those chapters. Now she understood why Cousin Harry was so famous. She hoped that she would get a chance to talk to him about it. It seemed that what he did was special, after all.

_A/N: Patsy hasn't said much yet, but I purposely left her quiet while she got her first look at her new world. I promise she has more to say. Thank you for reading! I'm still not sure to which house she belongs. Maybe I'll figure it out after she's been to the Burrow. If you have an opinion, please feel free to review!_


	4. The night before school

_Disclaimer: I created Patsy and her Mother and siblings. Everything else belongs to JKR._

Based on their last experience with the Potter family, the Dursley family sat in their living room and stared uneasily at the fire place. They were therefore quite surprised to hear the door bell ring. They opened the door to see Harry and Ginny Potter standing on the porch and smiling. Behind them on the street was a purple triple decker bus.

"Hi, Dudley, Elizabeth, is Patsy ready?"

Dudley and Elizabeth could only nod while staring at the bus.

"What's the matter?" Petunia came out the door and saw the bus.

"Er..." said Dudley.

Harry said, "Well, we are on a bit of a time constraint. Are these Patsy's trunk and things? Boys, come help!"

Ginny went up to Elizabeth and put her arm around her, walking her back into the house. "This is still a little unbelievable, isn't it? Why don't I come for a cup of tea on Tuesday and we can chat, mother to mother?" Elizabeth looked into the friendly face and finally smiled and nodded. "It's a date. Right now I'm sure you want to hug your daughter and tell her good bye."

Patsy had already said good bye to her brother when he went off to his own school.

"Don't come back too weird," he had said.

Now she gave her sister a big hug. "Take care of Mom and Dad, ok?"

Then she went to her dad. "Bye little Patsy-cake."

Granny Tuney gave her a big hug. "Be a good girl."

Mom was last. "I shall miss you my sweet Petunia. Write me often."

"I will, Mom."

And then she was on the bus, waving good bye and holding tightly to the hand of her Cousin Lily.

Once they were under way, Patsy couldn't wait any longer. "Cousin Harry, may I ask some questions?"

"Certainly, Patsy. What is it?"

"Did you really do all those grand things in the history book? How did you do it? What was it like?"

James rolled his eyes to his brother and sister. "Can we go speak with our school friends back there?"

"Can't stand to hear it again, can you? Well, all right." The boys switched seats.

Patsy and Lily looked at Lily's parents.

Cousins Harry and Ginny exchanged a smile before he said, "Well, it's never as exciting as it sounds. It's not always great wizardry that accomplishes the great things. It's true that some of the greatest heroes of that war were among the greatest wizards ever, and I'm proud to have known them, but some of the heroes just sort of did their thing using the best skills they had."

"But to survive death when you were just a baby! How could you do that?"

"I didn't. My mother did it for me. Voldemort had heard about a prophecy that a baby born when I was would destroy him. My parents hid for a long while but one of their friends gave them up. My mom stood in front of me and forced Voldemort to kill her before he could get to me. By surrounding me with her love like that, she created a spell that Voldemort couldn't penetrate so that his curse rebounded onto himself. It wasn't really smart magic and she wasn't the most powerful of witches but it was an extremely powerful magic. And I was left to grow up with your Grandmother Petunia, your Grandfather Vernon and your dad. Somehow, the love of my mom and your grandmother as sisters protected me from then until I came of age."

"Grandma Lily was wonderful!" said her namesake.

"I think so, too" agreed Harry.

Patsy was thoughtful. "Did Granny Tuney really make you sleep in the closet under the stairs?"

"Yes, until after I started at Hogwarts. After that I had a room upstairs."

"They weren't very nice to you, were they?"

"Well...I didn't really fit into the family."

"Am I going to be expected be as great as you and your mom and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger?"

"Your Cousin Ginny and I hope that you will work hard and do your best. You don't have to be a powerful witch to do good things, just a person who does what she knows is right. When you meet the rest of the family tonight, maybe you'll see what I mean."

"We're there!" shouted Lily. The bus stopped with a loud crack and a shuddering lurch.

As they got off the bus, Patsy got her first view of the house known as the Burrow. It was off by itself, away from the town, and although not a particularly great house, it was very home-y looking.

Once again the boys helped with Patsy's bags.

"Wait!" Cousin Ginny put some protective jinxes on the bags so that the boys wouldn't be able to booby trap them.

"Oh, Mom! You ruin all our fun!"

"Yes, James, I know. That's why they pay me so much money. Put these where your grandmother says and then LEAVE THEM ALONE."

"Hey, look! They're playing Quidditch up back! Come on!" Lily ran around the house with Patsy trying to keep up.

What she saw when she got there was the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her life. About a dozen people, most with some shade of red hair, were flying on broomsticks and hitting at different colored balls. All of a sudden one of the people shouted, "I've got the snitch!" Everyone else groaned and they all came back down to the ground.

Pretty soon she was surrounded by people wanting to meet her. There were Cousin Ginny's brothers and many of Lily's cousins. Rose ran up to her. "Hi, Patsy! How are you?"

"There are a lot of people here."

"Yeah, you'll get used to them. We'll have a chance to get to know everybody on the train, tomorrow. Want to try a broomstick?"

"Um...I better not."

"That's ok. You'll have lessons pretty soon. Here are our cousins from France: Victoire, Dominique, and Louis." Patsy shook hands all around.

"ALL RIGHT YOU LOT! GET IN HERE AND WASH UP!"

"That's Grandma Molly," said Lily. "Come meet her."

Molly Weasley looked at Harry's young cousin and smiled. "Hello, dear. How are you? Did the Knight Bus make you ill? Did anyone hurt you playing Quidditch?"

Patsy shook her head. "No, ma'am."

Mrs. Weasley smiled again. "I'm very pleased to meet you, dear. Lily, take her to wash up and then come right back."

Over dinner, Patsy listened wide eyed as the others discussed Hogwarts. She heard about which professors were "hard" and which were boring and which were nice. Some of the professors went to school with Cousins Harry and Ginny and were supposed to be some of the nice ones.

Then there was a long discussion about "sorting." Something about a hat, but mostly about which house was the good one.

"If you're not in Griffindor, we'll disown you," said Rose's dad. He was talking to Hugo and Lily and one of the other cousins.

"That's not true," said Rose's mom, "We've had some very good friends who were Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff." Patsy had a difficult moment realizing that Rose's parents were the Ron Weaslely and Hermione Granger she had read about. They looked very nice, but also very normal.

"Let's not forget one or two Slytherins who helped us to win the war," said Cousin Harry quietly.

"Excuse me?" Patsy had a question.

"Yes, Patsy?"

"How are the houses different?"

"You mean, besides Griffindor being the best?" asked one of Cousin Ginny's brothers.

"Oh, Charlie!" said his sister.

"Basically," said Lily's grandfather, "They're all wonderful houses. Griffindors tend to be bold, Ravenclaws are very smart, Hufflepuffs are very loyal, and Slytherins are quite ambitious. Great wizards and witches have belonged to all four houses."

* * *

Finally they went through the fireplace to Cousin Harry and Cousin Ginny's house, which was a lot fancier, but a little darker.

"Pretty gruesome, huh?" said Cousin Lily.

"You should have seen it when we first started using this place for the Order of the Phoenix," said Cousin Ginny. "It belonged to Harry's godfather and his mother had the mounted heads of former house elves hanging all along the front hallway. We've made good progress, but some things take more than a year or two to fix. Boys!" She looked at her sons. "Take Patsy's things to your sister's room and DO NOT booby trap them, nor in any way tamper with them."

"Mom! You ruin all our fun!" complained Albus.

"James, I was speaking with you, too! If Patsy has the slightest problem..."

"All right, all right. I'll be good, this time."

"You better be good all the time!" put in Lily.

"That's about the best we can hope for," said Cousin Ginny. "You have a brother don't you? You know what it's like."

Patsy nodded and the two girls giggled while Ginny smiled.

When they had their teeth brushed and were in bed, Cousin Ginny came to check on the girls.

"All set?"

"Yes, Mom."

Ginny sat on Lily's bed and smiled at both girls.

"I just wanted to tell you that Harry Potter really is indeed a very special wizard. He knew that he was the only one who could do what needed to be done and he chose to give up a great deal of his own life to do that. You're going to be with a lot of different wizards and witches at Hogwarts, and they will all have their own opinion about what happened. Don't let it bother you. Just work hard and study and do your best."

"Yes, Mom"

"Yes, Cousin Ginny."

"That's fine, then. Sleep tight, girls."

_A/N: I think the next chapter will be the last one, and if Patsy's story continues it will be in another story line. At the moment, if I go too much farther down this path, I'm going to have to decide whether to follow the AU path my other story took, and I'm not sure whether I plan to continue that storyline after I finish it, either. _


	5. Sorting

_Disclaimer: All JKR's creations except my one OC._

At the train station the next morning, Cousin James tried to be helpful. "All you have to do is push your trolley and pretend the barrier is not there. Like this." She watched in horror and then amazement as he ran down the platform with his trolley of luggage and disappeared completely. Then she watched as Albus did the same.

"Why don't we try it together?" Lily said. This was her first trip to Hogwarts but she had seen her brothers off at the station several times before. Together they grasped the handles of their trolleys and walked...and suddenly they were on the other side of the barrier. Cousins Harry and Ginny followed.

It was amazing to see the different families all milling around, stowing gear, and saying tearful goodbyes.

Cousins Harry and Ginny gave her warm hugs on the platform and saw her and her things onto the train. "It's a bit to get used to, but you'll do fine." He told her. If there's any sort of problem, just send us an owl and we'll do whatever we can. Remember, you can send us letters for your family, too, and we'll make sure you get them. See you at Christmas!"

Lily was hopping up and down with impatience. "Yeah, right, Dad, Mom. Love you!" and all but dragged Patsy down the corridor. "I've lived for this day for just forever," She explained.

They sat in a compartment with Albus, James, Rose and Hugo. The train started to go.

Patsy wanted to look out the window, first. Suddenly, she saw Granny Tuney. They waved at each other and blew kisses. She waved goodbye to her cousins and watched as London disappeared into the horizon. Then she turned and sat down.

"Do you want to put our robes on?" Lily asked her.

"Sure," replied Patsy.

"I'm not sure I would," said Albus. "Rose put hers on right away two years ago and then got chocolate frog on it. She had to get sorted with a stain on her robe."

"I did not, that was you!"retorted his cousin. "And anyway, it didn't show, no one noticed. Let's go ahead and change. It always seems so much more like an adventure."

They had all switched from their jackets and coats to their robes just about the time the trolley arrived at their compartment.

"I'd be a bit carefull about the every-flavor beans, but the chocolate frogs are good and you can keep or swap the cards," said Albus confidentially. "The pumpkin pasties are good, and filling, too."

Patsy followed his advice, using money from a pouch Cousin Ginny had given her, and the children enjoyed their snacks. She asked questions about the faces on the Famous Wizard Cards and they spent their trip explaining them to her.

"Oh, look, we're here! We're here! We leave our things...they'll be up in our rooms. You first years will need to go with Hagrid while the rest of us go in the carriages." James was trying to herd them like sheep.

"Practicing for a prefect badge already, James? What makes you think _you'd_ even get one?" Rose looked indignant.

"Hey! I'm only trying to help. Forget it then. Hey, Spofford!" James went off with a friend.

"Firs' years, firs' years, over here!" An enormous looking man was calling them.

"Hey! Hagrid!" Hugo and Lily ran over to him, dragging Patsy in their wake.

"See ya, kids. It will be fine." Albus and Rose went off toward the carriages.

As their relatives had done before them, Hugo, Lily, and Patsy walked down to the lake where they got their first view of the castle, boarded little boats, and glided across to where they got out of the boat and lined up before the main door of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The door opened and a kind but no nonsense looking witch in dark blue robes opened the door.

"Any trouble tonight, Hagrid?"

"None at all professor."

"You will want to get to the Hall, then."

The part giant walked to a room on one side of the entrance and the witch led them to a room across from it.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. In just a few minutes you will be sorted into your houses. This is important, because your house becomes like a family while you are here. You will compete together from your houses in Quidditch and you also compete for house points. At the end of the year there is an award. The houses are very different because all of you are very different. However, at the end of the day, we are all Hogwarts. Let me check to see if they are ready for you."

The witch went out.

"She seems nice enough."

"I wonder what they're going to make us do."

"The rest of the family have all lived through it."

Whispers surrounded Patsy and she thought she would faint from nervousness. Lily clasped her hand and Patsy gratefully squeezed back. It was nice to know that Lily needed reassurance, too.

The nice looking witch came back.

"All right. Line up, _neatly_, now. OK, follow me." She led them across the hall and into the great hall.

Patsy saw more candles than she could believe existed. Then she noticed that there were four long tables running the length of the room and a table where people who looked like they must be the teachers sat. Wait, there was a stool in front of the teachers, with a shabby hat upon it. Everyone quieted down and stared at the hat. Suddenly, through a tear near the brim, the hat began to sing.

It described sorting, which involved putting the hat on, and then described the different houses. As soon as the hat sang about one particular house, Patsy knew which one she liked the best. It sounded like home to her.

The hat finished its song and everyone applauded. Then the witch read a name from a scroll she was holding and one of the kids from the line walked up. He sat down on the stool and the hat was dropped upon his head.

"RAVENCLAW" shouted the hat, and kids who must have been the Ravenclaw prefects waved the kid over to their table.

The list was consulted again and another boy went up, then two girls and a boy then a girl and so on, with kids going to Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and more Ravenclaw, until, "Dursley, Petunia!"

"Good luck," whispered Lily.

She sat on the stool and the hat was dropped down her head and over her eyes.

"I know your family," said a voice in the hat. "Mostly Gryffindors, but let's see, first. No slyness at all so Slytherin is out. A bit inclined to fret, loyal, bright enough, plucky. You could almost go with any...Which did you say you like? Yes, yes, I can see that. We'll go with that then."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

_A/N: Well I had to decide that Patsy would be most comfortable there, even with cousins in Gryffindor. I can't imagine Dudley anywhere else, although Elizabeth is a bit of a dark horse. _

_This completes this story. If you think I should start another about Patsy, let me know. I have to decide whether to keep going with my other story, first, though, since I'll never keep them separate and the AU stuff in the other one would have to be incorporated here._

_Thank you to my kind reviewers!_


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